Holyoke building inspector orders demolition of storm-damaged building off Lyman Street

Republican Photo by Mark M.MurrayView of the damage to three floors of the Curran General Contractors warehouse building off Lyman street in Holyoke following Tuesday's violent weather.

HOLYOKE – An old mill building off Lyman Street that had a valley carved into it by Tuesday’s fierce-winded storm must be demolished, an official said Wednesday.

The four-story James A. Curran General Contractors Inc. building at Gatehouse Road overlooking the canals was condemned Wednesday, interim Building Inspector Mark E. Hebert said.

The thunderstorm’s 50-mph winds bashed a U-shaped gap into the building’s upper three stories. The damage left red bricks and building debris piled at the base and dumped on the canal embankment.

Curran will have seven days from Wednesday, the day the city officially notified him, to tell the city when he plans to get the structure razed, Hebert said.

The building was in poor shape before the storm with a hole in the roof, he said. It was being used for storage.

“It was already in a weakened state,” Hebert said.

Efforts to reach Curran were unsuccessful.

Hebert said it was unclear how much demolishing the building would cost. He also didn’t know how old the building was, though mills in that area are listed on the city website as having been built in the 1880’s.

Juan Lugo said he was still assessing the damage to his home at 45 Meadow St. A tree uprooted by the storm crashed onto his house and heavily damaged a car in the driveway.

The tree, which an official identified as a silver maple, also damaged a house next door to Lugo’s.

Some positive developments did occur, Lugo said. He and his wife Bethzaida Lugo were able to stay in the house Tuesday night.

Also, Lugo said, crews from the Department of Public Works and Holyoke Gas and Electric Department removed the tree, filled in the big hole on the sidewalk left by the uprooting and re-illuminated a streetlight damaged by the falling tree.

“They did pretty good. Everything’s been cleared,” Lugo said.

Aside from the obvious wreckage, the storm’s damage citywide was minor. Public works employees spent Tuesday night and Wednesday picking up large tree limbs downed around the city, Superintendent William D. Fuqua said.

The department was aware of four trees that the storm knocked down citywide, he said.